commUNICAtion
Newsletter of the Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe
N° 7 - June 2001
Summary:
Message
from the President
Sonja's
Goodbye
Mission Statement on equal opportunities
New
at the job
Mutual Recognition
Handbook
of European Associations in Higher Education
List
of UNICA Members in 2001
Agenda
During the General Assembly held at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in December 2000, UNICA celebrated its tenth anniversary. It was a very happy event where the history of UNICA, its development and its importance were put forward. The General Assembly also had the great pleasure to welcome the universities of Iceland, Latvia, Ljubliana and Tallinn as new members. As a result our network today includes 29 universities representing 25 countries. All together our universities now represent more than one million students and a staff of more than one hundred thousand.
The General Assembly elected the rector of ULB, Professor Pierre de Maret, as a member of the Steering Committee who is to fulfil the period of Professor Marie-Christine Adam, who so sadly passed away last spring. At the next General Assembly to be held in Madrid in November 2001, elections for a new Steering Committee will be held for the term running from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2003. Nominations for candidates can be addressed to the Secretary General until the 1st of September.
At the same occasion, we will also officially elect our new Secretary General, Ms. Kris Dejonckheere, to replace Ms. Sonia N. Mykletun, who resigned her post at UNICA in connection with her move to the USA. During the summer Ms. Nathalie Carton will also leave UNICA after having worked for four years for our network. We would especially like to thank Ms. Mykletun and Ms. Carton for their devoted and important work for UNICA. During their time here both have contributed significantly to the development of the network.
I am delighted that Ms. Dejonckheere from VUB has agreed to accept the position as our new Secretary General. She brings wide experience to the network; professionally, she has a legal background and has worked very many years in various offices at VUB. In addition, she is very familiar with UNICA and its history through active engagement in the network. Together with Mr Dejonckheere, the Steering Committee is now working on different solutions that will allow the secretariat to function as well as possible within our financial possibilities.
Among our activities during this year, I would like to mention our continuing focus on the issue of racism and xenophobia, which will be the theme of a seminar in Vienna in September. In addition, we are involved in the work on the Bologna Declaration and have an active working group on “Mutual Recognition of Qualifications”. With support from the European Commission our EUNIRO project aimed at enhancing international collaboration is progressing well. Meetings are planned in both Dublin and Vienna, where the future need for infrastructural changes within this sector will be discussed. The mobility program for administrators continues and provides the opportunity for maintaining close contacts between our universities.
The scientific segment of our last General Assembly was devoted to the theme “Relations: City – University”. It became obvious that research on urban questions was of particular interest to the members of UNICA, as it reflects one particular situation shared by universities in capital cities. Therefore we have taken the step of initiating an urban working group within UNICA.
As you will see from this issue of our newsletter, many members actively contribute to the activities of UNICA. This is absolutely crucial to the continued development of UNICA. Together the Steering Committee and I want to express our thanks for all these initiatives and our hope that the network continues to develop in a positive and constructive way.
Gunnel Engwall,
President of UNICA
Dear UNICA members and Friends,
On the eve of our move to Washington D.C., I wish to express a few words of acknowledgement and gratitude to UNICA’s members for their support and inspiration in my work towards furthering this network’s visions in higher education within Europe. UNICA’s success stems from inspiration and input of dedicated individuals and committees within the network, including its president, board, UNICA members and staff. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to network in Europe’s capital, and hope to continue to work towards strengthening cross-Atlantic ties in the field of higher education from our new home in the U.S. capital.
Sincerely,
Sonia Noronha Mykletun
Past UNICA Secretary General
Nathalie’s farewell
Dear friends,
It is with sadness that I announce you that I have to leave UNICA at the end of July for budgetary reasons. I shall greatly miss the very warm and friendly nature of the UNICA network and, in particular, the many friends I have made amongst UNICA members. It was a great opportunity to work with you, and for you, during those four years. I have learned a lot, it was a challenging and enriching experience. I feel fortunate because I had the pleasure of meeting very nice, interesting and enthusiastic persons. I sincerely hope that my work contributed somehow to building a stronger network.
I am of course very sad to leave the network but I know it is in good hands : UNICA has a very good President, Professor Gunnel Engwall, a very active and dedicated Steering Committee, truly committed members, and a new Secretary General, Ms Kris Dejonckheere, who I am sure will do a fabulous job - I wish her all the best for this new position.
I also would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the former President, Professor Pierre Ducrey, and the former secretaries general, Mrs Chantal Zoller, Jeanine Herman and Sonia Mykletun. Each of them has taught me a lot and I warmly thank them.
I wish nothing but success and long life to the UNICA network !
I hope and expect to keep good contact with many of you, please do not hesitate to contact me when you come in Brussels; It will be my pleasure to meet you, show you everything around and offer you a Belgian beer. Finally, I am very happy and proud to announce that I am pregnant. The baby is expected in December and this gives me bright and joyful perspectives for the future.
Nathalie Carton
401 rue Hollebeek B-1630 Linkebeek Tel: +32 2 358 69 26 <nathaliecarton@hotmail.com>
Mission Statement on Equal Opportunities
All UNICA universities, as Universities in the Capital Cities of Europe committed to democratic values, pledge themselves to the implementation of policies, procedures and practices which do not discriminate on grounds of gender, marital status, age, disability, colour, ethnic origin, religious belief or sexual orientation.
Consequently they will implement programmes to remove barriers to equality and to promote concepts of diversity and equality of opportunity in all their activities.
Signed by the UNICA member universities on 15 December 2000 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the network
Promoting and managing diversity in higher education, 13 and 14 September 2001, University of Vienna
We wish to inform you that on 13 and 14 September 2001, the UNICA working group on Racism and Xenophobia, headed by Jeroen Doomernik, will hold a seminar in Vienna on Promoting and managing diversity in higher education. The seminar will be kindly hosted by the University of Vienna.
The seminar aims to equip those responsible in UNICA universities for exchange programmes, or persons otherwise professionally involved with students and staff from foreign or ethnic minority backgrounds, with the necessary tools to manage diversity. To this end, keynote speakers will first of all inform participants on such issues as the causes of social exclusion and racism, the effects thereof for individuals and society at large, and show promising ways ahead in increasing access for members of disadvantaged groups to higher education.
Subsequently, participants will split up in working groups where these themes are picked up on and can be thoroughly discussed. The seminar ends with plenary sessions during which professional consultants in the field of diversity management will offer participants a first-hand experience of the several methods available to deal with conscious and, more importantly, unconscious practices of exclusion, and by which to achieve a climate in which diversity can prosper.
The number of participants will be limited and registration therefore will follows according to the first come, first serve principle. Participation is free of charge. However, once you have registered but fail to attend the seminar, we reserve the right to charge you 200 Euros.
The deadline for registration will be 30 June 2001.
More detailed information on the programme and registration form with hotel alternatives can be asked to Maria Schmidt Dengler
maria.schmidt-dengler@univie.ac.at
I'm interested in literature, poetry, philosophy and contacts with different cultures. I enjoy the 'simple things of life' such as an interesting conversation or a good glass of wine... All of those things are probably not 'required' to be a secretary general, but they help you through life more easily.
My professional journey at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel started about fifteen years ago. Among other things I was responsible for the Research, International Relations & the Interface with the industry, assistant to the Director general and acting director of the vice-chancellors Office. Now I am responsible for the Institutional Relations of the University.
Working for the UNICA network is without any doubt a new and fascinating challenge in my professional life. With enthusiasm, I'm looking forward to this 'two days a week' job.
Don't hesitate to share your suggestions, comments, and critics with me because UNICA work is teamwork.
I hope to hear or read from you all very soon.
Kris Dejonckheere
Secretary general
e-mail: secr.gen.unica@ulb.ac.be
MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS - NOTE ON A MEETING OF UNICA MEMBERS
Members of the UNICA network of universities in capital cities met at the UNICA offices in Brussels on 16 March 2001 to explore the problems of recognition of qualifications in Europe, under the chairmanship of Professor Wendy Davies (UCL). Countries represented were Austria (Wien), French and Flemish communities in Belgium (ULB, VUB), Estonia (Tallinn), Germany (FUB), Ireland (UCD), Italy (Rome 3), the Netherlands (UvA), Poland (Warsaw), and Switzerland (Lausanne).
The occasion provided a very useful opportunity for those who have to deal with problems of recognition to share experience. It quickly became evident that - despite the Bologna process - there are still major differences in the place where ultimate authority for Higher Education resides in European countries. It is the difference in these systems of control that creates the conditions for many of the difficulties experienced. Indeed, responsibility for the recognition of foreign qualifications lies with a variety of bodies - university authorities, academic committees, individual administrators, national government bodies, regional bodies, although they are sometimes guided by the national ENIC/NARIC. Further, in practice there is considerable variety in the criteria of assessment used: there is no standard set of criteria in use across Europe for assessing the acceptability of foreign qualifications.
It was agreed that ideally the level and the content of a foreign qualification should be taken into account when assessing its acceptability, as well as the standard of individual performance, although it was acknowledged that it is exceptionally difficult to compare levels in different systems in any meaningful way. Given that ‘a year’ of study can mean different things even in a single system, it is clear that a simple measurement of time spent studying is completely insufficient for the process. What is essential, on the other hand, is an understanding of the content of a programme successfully completed. Hence, a clear description of the qualification, and its content, ought to be provided, preferably in standardized form. Use of the Diploma Supplement, together with a description of what goes into a programme of study, was the best way known to members to achieve this (the shorter the version of the Diploma Supplement, the more likely it is to be widely accepted and used).
In conclusion, it was acknowledged that there is a lack of robust data on the acceptability of most qualifications, particularly in respect of employer reactions, and it was agreed that it was highly desirable to track the experience of graduates, especially outside their own countries. In the short term, those present should investigate attitudes to the Diploma Supplement in their home institutions, encourage its use, and report back during Autumn 2001. In due course it was hoped that member universities would assess each other’s interpretations of the Diploma Supplement for mutual comprehensibility and go on to test them out on a range of employers, firstly in the home country and secondly in foreign countries.
It turned out that no party was interested in investigating the possibility of a mutual recognition agreement, whether bi-lateral or multi-lateral. If anyone, particularly those who were in principle interested but unable to attend the meeting, has further thoughts on this, do get in touch: I would be happy to convene a sub-group to take it forward.
Wendy Davies
1 May 2001
UNICA Administrators Mobility Programme
Report on the study visit of Maurizio Di Lisio, Università degli Studi Roma Tre to Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
My stay at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid lasted one week, from 13 to 19 November 2000.
The main objective of my visit was to know the organisation of the International Office of the Faculty of Law, the same structure I work for at Roma Tre. Since my office has been recently created, I was particularly interested in the general functioning of a decentralised International Office.
I was positively impressed by the general organisation of the Office and in particular I found that the decentralisation did have a positive effect on the management of the whole Socrates Programme. The Office has now the full management of grants, calls, etc. and this leads to an easier access to the programme itself for students and teachers. In addition to that, the Faculty nominated five Socrates co-ordinators who guarantee full assistance to the students. Another interesting point is that they maintain a strong relationship with the central Office and have regular co-ordinating meetings to which are invited also students who collaborate with the Offices.
In general, I felt a strong commitment to international activities and in particular a great awareness of the importance of student and teacher exchanges in relation to the modernisation of curricula and didactic systems and tools.
I also had the opportunity to meet Roma Tre students who are attending the Faculty of Law at Autónoma this academic year and could verify that they are all satisfied with their stay. I also met the responsible for academic relations with Italy and planned an implementation of our exchanges.
I was warmly welcomed by the staff of the Office and could profit from their experience and professionalism. They cared for me at any time and were always helpful. For this and the reasons I explained above, I consider this experience highly positive. Certainly it contributed to my professional growth and made me realise that the decision of creating an Erasmus Office at the Faculty of Law of Roma Tre has been the right one and will lead to an improvement of the Faculty educational potential, in its broader sense.
I thank UNICA for having promoted the Administrators Mobility Programme, the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and recommend to my colleagues of other UNICA universities to make use of this fruitful experience.
Maurizio Di Lisio
Erasmus Office, Faculty of Law, University of Roma Tre
Meeting of UNICA rectors at the Convention of European Higher Education Institutions in Salamanca, April 2001
With over 650 participants, the Convention of European Higher Education Institutions held in Salamanca was a further step in the convergence process called for in the Bologna Declaration in view of the Ministers of Education meeting this May in Prague.
The convergence process triggered by the Sorbonne and the Bologna Declaration is gaining widespread interest and support. There is a growing consensus on the core objectives: mobility, employability and competitiveness. The instruments of the convergence process (ECTS, Diploma Supplement, the move towards more quality assurance and accreditation, a two-tier structure) are being implemented in a growing number of countries, even if there are some noticeable disagreements. The convention in Salamanca was also the occasion for the Association of European Universities and the Confederation of the European Union Rectors’ Conferences to merge into one new European University Association (EUA).
We are at a turning point but with many uncertainties still in front of us. Amidst the general upheaval, it was good to meet within a more congenial group for the, by now well established, custom of the UNICA lunch. It was attended by representatives of 17 institutions.
The sheer size of the conference, the various stakeholders, the pace of the change taking place, the challenges facing all of our institutions made the UNICA participants realise the need for a closer knit network. Professor Joan Conrad who said almost right away very nicely captured this feeling: “Now, I really see the future of UNICA”.
And indeed, most of the discussion over lunch in the beautiful old Colegio Fonseca revolved around how all the member institutions could benefit from pooling information, practical solutions and best practices for the many challenges facing all of us.
During the Convention workshop, and during our lunch, the problems faced by the universities in central and Eastern Europe were voiced. Having many Universities from candidate states, UNICA is in many ways ahead of the EU Commission and could be a useful channel to voice in a co-ordinated way the concerns and the needs of countries not yet members, who are facing a brain drain from within Eastern Europe. In the new landscape of higher education in Europe, UNICA can become a driving force, but to achieve that, we need to know each other better. As said by Professor Guido Fabiani, we should increase the knowledge of UNICA inside our institutions, take the necessary steps to know each other better and concentrate on a few topics.
In order to achieve some of those goals, in addition to what is already undertaken, it was decided to organise systematically a teaching staff exchange, with each interested university creating a kind of UNICA visitorship, of between two weeks and two months length, funded either by each institution, or with a central funding system, with support from some private, regional or governmental sponsors.
In order to help each other evaluate and facilitate the students’mobility, the Steering Committee was asked to move ahead with ECTS and the Diploma Supplement, articulating the two and testing what is possible in light of the task force that Professor Wendy Davies has been co-ordinating, and whose recent meeting reports will be the starting point in the process.
Finally the Rectors present were quite keen on holding a series of brainstorming sessions amongst themselves, entitled “Visions and Frustrations”, a UNICA opportunity to share their concerns and their hopes in shaping the future.
Pierre de Maret Benjamin Van Camp
Rector of ULB Rector of VUB
European Student Conference - The Making of Europe
Conference Report
Upon invitation of the Freie Universität Berlin, more than 230 students from 24 universities in European capitals - between Moscow and Lisbon, Dublin and Rome - participated in the European Student Conference on November 21-24, 2000. The task of the Conference was to define common identity, common expectations and common goals and to formulate the students’ vision of a future Europe in a summarising Memorandum entitled “The Making of Europe – Guidelines of European Policy in the 21st Century”.
Preparations for the European Student Conference started as early as December 1999, when the member universities of UNICA were invited to take part in the project. The response was enthusiastic and each participating university nominated a contact person to further co-ordinate Conference preparations. The Conference was conceived so that the universities would select student participants themselves. Students would then prepare for the Conference in special seminars or courses. Beginning in early 2000, students at participating universities engaged in intensive training programmes, the format of which included regular teaching courses with faculty members as well as instructions by officials of national governments or parliaments. Preliminary drafts of memorandum chapters were developed during this preparatory period and circulated between participating delegations before the Conference took place in Berlin. In evaluating the Conference, one initial conclusion is that Conference preparation itself strengthened the motivation of student participants and determined the success of the project.
The format of the European Student Conference was designed to encourage intensive discussion during plenary sessions, committee and delegation meetings. Committee meetings focussed on specific, predefined aspects of European policy, while meetings of university delegations allowed for identification of “national” interests. In order to cover a wide spectrum of policy fields, each student participant was assigned to one of the ten Conference Committees formed:
Committee on Culture, Education and Communication
Committee on Development and Co-operation
Each committee had the responsibility to develop, with repeated contact of each member to his/her national delegation, one of the 10 chapters of the Memorandum. Each chapter includes a short description of the given issue, summarising the European policy guidelines thus developed from the students’ point of view.
On the first day of the Conference the students met in the various committees and agreed on an agenda for the Memorandum. On the following two days, the committees invested a tremendous amount of work in conceiving the Memorandum, and the results reflected considerable differences in modes of working. Some delegates were able to agree quickly on the topics of the Memorandum; for others, even the discussion of terminology was a considerable task.
The work was intense and the discussions were sometimes very heated. Some delegates represented national interests in the debate; others held that the goal of a common, unified European was more important. Yet all of this was conducive to the in-depth debate on the wording of the Memorandum.
After two days of work in committee meetings, the draft Memorandum was to be presented to the concluding plenum on the last day of the Conference. University delegations had the right to submit amendments to the plenum, which were discussed along with the text of each chapter before voting – a majority of two thirds of the votes counted was required for acceptance. The concluding plenum was chaired by the President of UNICA, Prof. Engwall and by the President of the Freie Universität Berlin, Prof. Gaehtgens The Memorandum was passed by a two/thirds majority in the final vote, and in the end everyone was happy to have the results of the European Student Conference in their hands. In a closing ceremony, student participants presented the Memorandum to the French ambassador to Germany, Mr. Claude Martin, thus recognising the French presidency of the European Council.
The Memorandum drawn up by Europe’s students contains visionary ideas regarding Europe's future. The students not only make recommendations in various fields of European policy, but also set forth-concrete demands and proposals concerning the future appearance of their continent.
The European Student Conference showed that students are very involved in the internationalisation of universities. They are quite interested in international contacts and in exchanges with students from other countries. We are now working to maintain these initial contacts, for the project is far from complete. We have published the Memorandum and forwarded it to the participating universities, to various governments and European institutions such as the European Parliament and the European Commission. We have installed a website for the Conference with a discussion forum enabling students to maintain contacts and to reinforce the existing network.
The Conference has been a good experience for the students. It gave them the chance to make intensive international contacts and to exchange ideas with peers from all over Europe. The Conference theme was particularly suitable, for students are vividly touched by Europe and by European politics. The project was also a good experience for our university, which acted as host, for our international contacts have been thereby strengthened and new ones established.
The extent of interest in the subject, and indeed in this type of event, was mirrored by the attention the media paid to the Conference. German newspapers and radio stations sent enquiries, interviewed students and published reports. The media in other countries — in Spain and even in the USA — also reported on the Conference.
With this first European Student Conference, the Freie Universität Berlin has hopefully provided an initial impulse and shown that this approach really does work, that students do like to be engaged at the international level and that international co-operation between universities can be promoted.
For further information on the European Student Conference, and to download the Memorandum, see the website www.fu-berlin.de/europe.
Virginia Moukouli, Project-Coordinator
Freie Universität Berlin
Please note that University College London is taking this initiative over and will organise the next Student Conference, “The Future of Europe”, in London on 10-13th April 2002. The purpose of the 2nd European Student Conference is to develop recommendations to the European Parliament in respect of key policy issues. Since the future of Europe clearly lies with youth, the student perspective is particularly important. For more information, please contact Rachel Aucott <r.aucott@ucl.ac.uk>. Further details will be posted on the conference website during the summer www.ucl.ac.uk/euroconference
The University of Amsterdam offered to host the next European Student Conference in 2004
Renewed proposal for a survey among UNICA universities, March 2001 ( picture of Jeroen)
The steering committee has recently decided to support a proposal from the Working Group against racism and xenophobia to conduct a comparative survey among UNICA universities. The survey aims to establish the types of policies members have towards anti-discrimination and diversity management, and their effectiveness. Subsequently, it should enable the Working Group to produce a volume of good and best practices which then is to be made available to all interested institutions. Interested members are invited to contact the secretariat which can provide a more detailed proposal <unica@ulb.ac.be>. After the summer break an inventory of responses shall be forwarded to the chair of the Working Group, Dr Jeroen Doomernik <J.Doomernik@frw.uva.nl>, who then will be in touch directly.
Handbook of European Associations in Higher Education
A Practical Guide to Academic Networks in Europe and Beyond
In the past 15 years, European co-operation in higher education has increased dramatically. During the same period, a large number of academic associations came into being. Only a few insiders know their names; hardly anyone knows what they actually do. What is their history? What are their aims, their main activities, their publications and their most noteworthy projects? How are they governed? Where can they be contacted? The Handbook of European Associations in Higher Education answers these and many other related questions. It tries to shed light on the "inner workings" of the 37 most relevant academic networks in Europe, in the form of standardised portraits. The book also contains a number of short profiles of important higher education associations from outside of Europe, as well as a "postscript" analysis containing a short typology and history of European networks in the tertiary sector. The Handbook of European Associations in Higher Education is no. 3 in the ACA Papers on International Co-operation in Education.
The Handbook can be ordered from any bookshop, directly from the publishers, Lemmens Verlags- und Mediengesellschaft mbH, Koenigswinterer Strasse 95, D-53227 Bonn, Germany, tel: +(49.228) 42.13.70, fax: +(49.228) 42.13.729, <lemmens-medien@ndh.net> or from the Academic Cooperation Association / ACA 15 Rue d'Egmont, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium, tel: +(32.2) 513.22.41, fax: +(32.2) 513.17.76, <bernd.waechter@aca-secretariat.be>. ISBN 3-932306-37-6. DM 59.80 / € 30.58
· New members: We are happy to welcome three new member universities in 2001: the universities of Iceland, Ljubljana and Tallinn. The University of Latvia was already taking part in UNICA activities in 2000, but its membership was officially approved at the last UNICA General Assembly in December 2000. We sincerely hope to contribute to strengthen collaboration between our member institutions.
· Prof. Georg Winckler, Rector of the University of Vienna has been elected vice president of the newly created European University Association, EUA.
· The UNICA Administrator Mobility Programme has been relaunched in 2001 and UNICA will provide each applicant with a grant of 300 Euros. For more information please visit http://www.ulb.ac.be/unica/admin_mob/admin_project.html
· We are sorry to have to tell you that the universities of Paris VI “Pierre et Marie Curie”, Paris 9 “Dauphine” and the Centre Universitaire du Luxembourg have resigned their membership of the network.
· The updated information on UNICA Summer Schools is available on the UNICA web site http://www.ulb.ac.be/unica/summersch/sssummary.html. Posters were printed and distributed to UNICA member universities for promoting the initiative.
· The UNICA presentation leaflet was updated and republished. Member universities should receive bulk copies very soon.
· The UNICA General Assembly was hosted by Université Libre de Bruxelles on 15 December 2000. The afternoon session was devoted to the topic “The universities and the capital cities”. The papers focused mainly on the new changing roles of the Universities, i.e. permanent training, mobilising Universities in support of urban and regional development, fostering inter-ministerial dialogues, stronger links between the Universities, economic life and civilian society, growing responsibilities of the Universities in cultural development and the heritage maintenance, and so on. We would like to thank Prof. Gerhard Braun, Freie Universität Berlin; Prof. John Goddard, University of Newcastle; Mr David Miles from the European Commission; Prof. Régis Ritz, Pôle Universitaire Européen de Bordeaux; Prof. Françoise Thys-Clément, ULB; Prof. Manuel Valenzuela, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Prof. Christian Vandermotten, ULB for their active participation. Following the General Assembly, it was decided to start up a new UNICA Working Group on Urban issues. Professor Christian Vandermotten <cvdmotte@ulb.ac.be> from ULB has kindly accepted to chair this Working Group. Members were contacted and invited to take part in the project.
· On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the network in December 2000,
- the European Commissioner Philippe Busquin gave a speech to the UNICA members on “The Future of Research in Europe”.
- a cd-rom presenting the UNICA Network, its members, its history and some major figures, was produced thanks to ULB. Participants to the UNICA General Assembly have all received a copy. If you wish to receive a copy as well, please inform the UNICA Secretariat.
· Professors Pierre Ducrey and Gunnel Engwall have represented the UNICA network to the 6th meeting of the League of World Universities, in New York, New York University, 8-10 February 2001. The league was created in 1991 by M. L. Jay Oliva, president of the New York University (NYU). The meetings take place every two years and have approached the following topics : recruitment and number of students, university financing and fundraising, knowledge transmission, new technologies, university hospitals and public health. The topic of the 2001 conference was “the globalization of higher education”.
· We are pleased to inform you that there will be a UNICA session at the EAIE Annual Conference in Tampere. The session’s title is « The role and infrastructure of university international relations offices: a UNICA perspective ». It will aim at discussing and disseminating the result of the EUNIRO project. For more information, please contact Andreas Mallouppas <admall@ucy.ac.cy>
· The guide of good practice for IROs compiled by IROICA van be found on http://www.boku.ac.at/iroica/publ1.htm
· European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) is an independent non-profit organisation which for 10 years has helped individuals and associations make their voice heard with the European Institutions. It has set up a telephone and electronic hotline to allow any European citizen, and in particularly students and newly qualified job seekers to put their questions to legal experts about their rights on free movement within the EU. ECAS experienced team of lawyers can answer questions in English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek and Swedish on all questions related to free movement. The free movement solidarity fund is also available to help with more difficult cases (see website for details of the fund http://www.ecas.org).
Hotline: +32-2-548 04 94 <ecas@ecas.org>
· The International Relations Officers’ meeting was hosted by the University College Dublin on 10-13 May. A part of the meeting was devoted to the “Link of universities with Cities -Interaction university/city : social influence & service to the community”. We would like to Thank Prof. Pat Frain, from the UCD University Industry Centre and Prof. Frank Convery, from the Environment Institute for their presentations.
· The meeting in Dublin was mainly devoted to the EUNIRO project, co financed by the European Commission. We would like to warmly thank Andreas Mallouppas, the project coordinator, for all the time and energy spent on the project, and to thank the speakers who have shared with us their views on the future of Higher Education : Dr Jeroen Torenbeek, Director of International Office University of Utrecht, former director ad interim of the EAIE; Adam Pokorny, European Commission Directorate for Education; Prof Wolfgang Mackiewicz, Freie Universität Berlin, European Language Centre.
· The next UNICA General Assembly will be hosted by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid on 16-17 November 2001. Information on the programme, hotels and registration forms can be asked to Angeles Cecilia from the office of international relations at UCM <cecilia@eucmas.sim.ucm.es> or to Fernando de Hipólito -Oficina Socrates Erasmus <hipolito@eucmos.sim.ucm.es>.
· Please remember that nominations for candidates for the Steering Committee members election, can be addressed to the Secretary General until the 1st of September 2001.
· Please note the e-mail of Kris Dejonckheere, UNICA Secretary General <secr.gen.unica@ulb.ac.be>.
· If you wish to contribute to the next issue of ‘CommUNICAtion’, please send your article to the General Secretariat in Brussels <unica@ulb.ac.be>
List of UNICA member universities in 2001
Albania University of Tirana
Polytechnic of Tirana
Austria Universität Wien
Belgium Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Cyprus University of Cyprus
Denmark University of Copenhagen
Estonia Tallinn Technical University
Finland University of Helsinki
Germany Freie Universität Berlin
Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Hungary Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest
Iceland University of Iceland
Ireland University College Dublin
Italy Università degli Studi di Roma I "La Sapienza"
Terza Università di Roma III
Latvia University of Latvia (Riga)
The Netherlands Universiteit van Amsterdam
Norway University of Oslo
Poland Warsaw University
Portugal Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Romania Universitatea Bucuresti
Slovakia Comenius University of Bratislava
Slovenia University of Ljubljana
Spain Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Sweden Stockholm University
Switzerland Université de Lausanne
United Kingdom University College London
|
Date |
Meeting |
|
2001 |
|
|
28-30 June |
European Language Council Conference “Multilingualism and the New Learning Environments” in Berlin |
|
19-23 August |
13th International Meeting of University Administrators “Values and Culture in Higher Education”. This is a biannual world forum for the discussion of strategic issues relating to the management and administration of higher education. University of Helsinki |
|
13-14 September |
Racism seminar to focus on action plan in UNICA universities “promoting and managing diversity in Higher Education”, hosted by the University of Vienna |
|
15 September |
Morning : Conclusions of the EUNIRO project Afternoon 14 :00 : Steering Committee meeting Hosted by the University of Vienna |
|
14 November |
Steering Committee meeting, hosted by Universidad Complutense de Madrid (to be confirmed) |
|
15 November |
Rectors seminar hosted by Universidad Complutense de Madrid (to be confirmed) |
|
16 November |
General Assembly hosted by Universidad Complutense de Madrid |
|
17 November |
Steering Committee meeting - follow-up - hosted by Universidad Complutense de Madrid |
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6-8 December |
EAIE Conference in Tampere, including a UNICA session on the EUNIRO Project |
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2002 |
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9 February 2002 |
Steering Committee meeting (dinner on Friday 8) in Brussels |
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10-13 April 2002 |
Student Conference « The Future for Europe », hosted by the University College London |
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18-20 April 2002 |
International Relations Officer s Meeting, hosted by the University of Copenhagen (dates to be confirmed) |
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2003 |
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Spring 2003 |
Racism seminar - follow up of Vienna seminar and conclusions of the new project proposal hosted by the University of Amsterdam (to be confirmed) |
To be updated on UNICA events please visit the agenda on the UNICA website.
C/o Université Libre de Bruxelles
Avenue F. D. Roosevelt 50 CP 160/24 - B-1050 Brussels
Tel.: +32 2 650 44 45 / 49 91 Fax: +32 2 650 49 92
unica@ulb.ac.be
http://www.ulb.ac.be/unica
Editors : Nathalie Carton and Kris Dejonckheere
Graphic design : Aline Baudet